I watched as the demon drank greedily from the pouch, after which she resumed tearing into her meat skewer with rushed, focused intensity.

Then, all of a sudden, she paused and looked up from her meal to me. Her lips parted, but no words came out. After a few silent seconds, she finally spoke in a timid voice, "…You are very strange."

"Huh?" I frowned, pointing at myself.

'I'm strange?'

Lilith looked back down at her meal, then asked, "Are you not afraid of me?"

"Afraid? …Why would I be afraid of you?"

Lilith's blue eyes wavered for a bit, then she muttered bitterly, "Everyone who sees me either runs away in fear, tries to hurt me, or calls me a monster and a freak."

She paused briefly, her small frame slumping further, before adding even more quietly, "The churches of the empires all claim that bonds are a gift from the gods, yet almost everyone sees me as a curse because I'm different. I get it. I'm not like the other bonds when I take the human form, but this is just how I am. I don't know why, but this is how I was born. Yet, every single person I meet makes sure I never forget that I'm an abnormal existence. So… why are you different? Why aren't you condemning me like the others do?"

The questions stunned me into silence. For a moment, I didn't know how to reply.

Of course, a bond whose human form was clearly non-human was indeed something that most people would be afraid of, simply because it was out of the ordinary.

But then again, besides the general knowledge, no one really knew much about the true nature of Bonds. Even the Bonds themselves didn't know anything about their origins, as they were only just born the moment they manifested. The only things they knew upon coming into existence were instinctual knowledge like their true names, the nature of their powers, and the fact that they must protect their bearers at all costs if they wanted to survive.

And so, since no one possessed true knowledge about the Bonds, who was anyone to judge what their forms should be?

I exhaled then finally replied. "I'm not afraid of you, because you have not given me any reason to be. You are a Bond, are you not?"

She looked at me for a bit before nodding gently.

Then I added, "So, what does it matter if you don't look human?"

A small smile grew on Lilith's lips, though she quickly looked away to hide it. Celeste's face also softened into a visible smile. A few seconds passed, before Lilith resumed eating her skewer with less frantic desperation than before.

While she continued to eat, I grew lost in my thoughts again as I watched her. Even with all the knowledge I had about the game, I knew surprisingly little about the bonds themselves. The developers hadn't released any substantial information, leaving bonds one of the biggest, most enduring mysteries of the game: Seraphim of Doom.

Now though, I couldn't help but be really curious: Where did bonds really come from? And what, exactly, were they?

Were they really a gift from the gods as everyone thinks, or is there more to them?

Also…

Even though the Demon of Resignation didn't look human, she was definitely humanoid.

Which begs the question:

Could it be that the third active form of a bond was not actually a human form as everyone assumed, but a humanoid form instead?

'Since I'm now a part of this world, it wouldn't hurt to try to solve these mysteries.' I sighed quietly as I sat on the ground and leaned back, resting my hand on my knee.

After a few seconds, however, something I saw earlier came back to me. My gaze shifted to the side, and a notification screen popped up at my command:

[Available Karma points: N1,870 / P910]

'Hm?'

I had not checked this for a while now, but I remembered that after reviving Evelyn, my positive karma had dropped to 150. From then, I had managed to raise it up to 660 from giving food throughout that time, so where did the extra two hundred come from?

While I was pondering this, a second notification suddenly popped up:

[Retrieving information…]

[Karma points gained at the Bridge of Nothing —> 200]

'Huh? Was that when I reached out a hand to save Evelyn and Celeste from falling into the chasm?'

I thought for a bit and concluded that must be it.

…Not long after, Lilith was done with her meal. She returned to being a ferret and we all retired back to the rock shelter for the night.

***

Evelyn woke up the next morning feeling an intense, desperate thirst for blood.

Since I was the reason she was in her current state, I offered her my blood; though I regretted the decision almost immediately, as the girl proceeded to nearly drink me dry.

After she had her fill, I watched her carefully. That was when I noticed that the streaks of shock-white hair that had been growing amongst her inky black hair slowly began to recede, disappearing completely until her hair was uniformly black once more.

Not long after, we all quickly gathered by the fireplace. Since everyone was now in peak condition, we finished our breakfast and immediately decided to continue our journey.

The ascent up was not exactly pleasant.

The higher we climbed, the colder and more treacherous it became. Every breath we took was a little thinner, every step required more effort, and the constant, biting wind seemed intent on peeling us right off the mountain. At one point, I had to lend a few of my heavy clothes to my party as they had lost their clothing when they lost their haversacks.

After about four agonizing hours of hard trekking, we finally reached the wide mountain pass, which was entirely blanketed in snow.

We stopped for a moment to catch our breath, though even breathing here was a laborious, burning struggle. Our only saving grace was the fact that after awakening as Dominants and having our bodies transformed, we had gained a slight tolerance to cold, which increased the higher one's grade.

Ino looked to her map on the whisperglobe, then said hoarsely. "Let's keep moving." She pointed to a section of the map above where we were, then added, "Once we reach the crest, we should be able to get a view of the other side of the range, including The Puppeteer's Grove. In the meantime, keep your eyes open as the mountain rabbits usually come around this pass."

The others nodded tiredly after she spoke. But just then, I raised a hand and muttered, "Uh…"

Everyone immediately turned their tired gazes to me. When they did, I simply pointed to the ground a few meters away.

They all snapped their heads around to see two perfectly camouflaged, cute, white fluffy rabbits staring back at us.

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